Two weeks ago, I highlighted law professor Vikram David Amar’s essay contesting the widespread assumption that if the Supreme Court were to rule that Prop 8 proponents lacked standing on appeal, the district-court ruling that then-Judge Vaughn Walker made against Prop 8 would be operative. As Amar explains, if the Court were to rule against standing, it should vacate not only the Ninth Circuit ruling below but also Walker’s ruling—and leave it to the four named plaintiffs on remand to request entry of a default judgment in their favor.

In a follow-on essay, Amar thoughtfully explores the further possible consequences for Prop 8 of a ruling against standing.